Coleus plant named ‘UF20-93-9’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct cultivar of Coleus (Coleus scutellarioides) plant named ‘UF20-93-9’ selected for having a combination of desirable traits that make it well-suited for good performance as an annual plant in the summer landscape. ‘UF20-93-9’ has foliage that is consistent bright reddish orange, surrounded by well-defined chartreuse leaf margins. This bi-colored combination is novel, and ‘UF20-93-9’ maintains both colors in a wide range of garden light conditions. ‘UF20-93-9’ has exceptional vigor, and grows wider than tall, making it a plant that fills large gaps of summer garden space with consistent colors. It is extremely vigorous, highly branched and uniform in shape. These characters allow propagators to quickly produce many cuttings, and growers to produce large crops efficiently.

Genus and species: Coleus scutellarioides.

Cultivar denomination:

‘UF20-93-9’.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW CULTIVAR

The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coleus plantnamed ‘UF20-93-9’. The new cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ originated from an openpollination conducted in May-November 2019 in Gainesville, Fla., betweenthe female Coleus plant ‘UF19-63-3’ (unpatented) and an unknown maleColeus plant. A single seedling was chosen in May 2019 for furtherasexual propagation in Gainesville, Fla.

The new cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ has been reproduced asexually for over 18months through vegetative meristem tip cuttings and has been found toretain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexualpropagations. ‘UF20-93-9’ was first propagated asexually by vegetativemeristem tip cuttings in May 2019 in Gainesville, Fla., and has remainedtrue-to-type since that time.

Plant Breeder's Rights for the new cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ have not beenapplied for, and ‘UF20-93-9’ has not been made publicly available morethan one year prior to the filing date of this application.

When compared to the female parent ‘UF19-63-3’, ‘UF20-93-9’ has largerleaves that are uniformly colored bright reddish orange with contrastingchartreuse (yellow green) accents at the leaf margins, whereas‘UF19-63-3’ has smaller leaves colored burnt orange with lime greenmargins and accents. Furthermore, ‘UF20-93-9’ is more uniform and morevigorous, grows more wide than tall, and has a compact, upright andspreading habit with more lateral branching, whereas ‘UF19-63-3’ is lessvigorous, and more upright in habit with less lateral branching.

The new cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ was selected because it performs well insun and shade and has excellent vigor to withstand the harsh selectionconditions plants are subjected to in sun and shade trials in centralFlorida. ‘UF20-93-9’ is exceptional because it maintains bright reddishorange foliage color with consistent chartreuse margins in both sun andshade. It also has excellent overall plant vigor and well-brancheduniformly compact, upright and spreading habit that is not common inColeus plants having a significant amount of reddish orange coloredfoliage. ‘UF20-93-9’ has not been observed to flower in any trials todate, thus it provides long-lasting annual color in warm summer gardensand landscapes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The new cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ has not been observed under all possibleenvironmental conditions. The phenotype of the new cultivar may varywith variations in environment and cultural practices such astemperature, light intensity, fertilization, irrigation, and applicationof plant growth regulators without any change in genotype.

The following are the most outstanding and distinguishingcharacteristics of ‘UF20-93-9’ when grown under normal horticulturalpractices in Gainesville, Fla.: ‘UF20-93-9’ has the combination ofvigorous, compact, upright and spreading growth habit, excellent heattolerance, and bright reddish orange-colored leaves with chartreusecolored leaf margins, which is significantly different than other Coleuscultivars; ‘UF20-93-9’ has superior stability in foliage color in bothsun and shade conditions; it has excellent lateral branching, making itsuitable for propagators and producers; and ‘UF20-93-9’ has beenobserved to have long-season performance in landscape trials inGainesville, Fla.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

This new Coleus cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ is illustrated by the accompanyingphotographs, which show the plant's form and foliage. The colors shownare as true as can be reasonaby obtained by conventional photographicprocedures. FIGS. 2-5 were taken from plants grown ten weeks fromunrooted cuttings in February-April 2022 in a glass-covered greenhousein Gainesville, Fla.

FIG. 1 shows the pedigree of the new Coleus cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ shownand described herein;

FIG. 2 shows the growth habit, form, and foliage of the new Coleuscultivar;

FIG. 3 shows a close-up view of the foliage of the new Coleus cultivar;

FIG. 4 shows the adaxial side of an immature leaf (left) and a matureleaf (right) of the new Coleus cultivar with corresponding RHS colordesignations; and

FIG. 5 shows the abaxial side of an immature leaf (left) and a matureleaf (right) of the new Coleus cultivar with corresponding RHS colordesignations.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CULTIVAR

Foliage color was determined under full sun conditions in the middle ofthe day in a glass-covered greenhouse. Color references are to The RHSColour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society of London (RHS), 20075th Edition. Coleus leaves are rarely one solid color but encompasshues, shades and tints, and color patterns differ from one genotype toanother due to varying levels of variegation. The following detaileddescription of ‘UF20-93-9’ was obtained using ten-week-old plants grownfrom unrooted cuttings in February-April 2022 in a glass-coveredgreenhouse in Gainesville, Fla. The plants were propagated in mist forten days after cuttings were stuck, then grown in one-gallon pots forapproximately eight and a half additional weeks.

Botanical Description

-   Botanical classification:    -   -   Family.—Lamiaceae.        -   Botanical name.—Coleus scutellarioides.        -   Common name.—Coleus.        -   Cultivar.—‘UF20-93-9’.-   Parentage:    -   -   Female or seed parent.—‘UF19-63-3’.        -   Male or pollen parent.—Unknown.-   Propagation:    -   -   Type cuttings.—Vegetative meristem tip cuttings having at            least 1 node.        -   Time to initiate roots.—3-4 days.        -   Time to produce a rooted cutting.—7-10 days.        -   Root habit.—Fibrous.        -   Root description.—Callus forms in 2-3 days, roots initiate            in 3-4 days and become a highly branched cutting in 7-10            days.-   Plant description:    -   -   Habit.—Compact, upright, and spreading.        -   Height (from top of soil).—28-32 cm.        -   Width (horizontal plant diameter).—70-75 cm.-   Branches:    -   -   Quantity per plant.—Approximately 13.        -   Branch color.—RHS 143B (yellow green).        -   Texture.—Smooth.        -   Pubescence.—Not present.        -   Stem description.—Square-shaped stem.        -   Branch diameter.—0.9-1.0 cm at the base of a 25-cm-long            branch.        -   Branch length.—25-28 cm.        -   Internode length.—3 cm measured at mid-branch.        -   Anthocyanin.—Not present.-   Leaves:    -   -   Quantity of leaves per branch.—18-20.        -   Arrangement.—Opposite.        -   Fragrance.—Not fragrant.        -   Shape.—Ovate.        -   Length.—15-16 cm.        -   Width.—10-11 cm.        -   Apex.—Broadly acute.        -   Base.—Attenuate.        -   Margin.—Crenate.        -   Leaf texture.—Upper surface: Pulverulent. Lower surface:            Smooth.        -   Venation color, mature leaf.—Upper surface, major color: RHS            187B (dark red). Upper surface, base: RHS 144A (yellow            green). Lower surface: RHS 142B (yellow green).        -   Venation color, immature leaf.—Upper surface: RHS 187B (dark            red). Lower surface: RHS 142B (yellow green).        -   Venation pattern.—Upper surface: Reticulate. Lower surface:            Reticulate.        -   Color: Immature leaf.—Upper surface, major color: RHS 175B            (reddish orange). Upper surface, margins: RHS N144A (yellow            green). Lower surface, major color: RHS 143A (yellow green).        -   Color: Mature leaf.—Upper surface, major color: RHS 175C            (reddish orange). Upper surface, margins: RHS N144A (yellow            green). Lower surface, major color: RHS 143A (yellow green).        -   Petiole length.—4-5 cm.        -   Petiole diameter.—0.3-0.4 cm.        -   Petiole color, mature leaf.—RHS 140A (yellowish green).        -   Petiole color, immature leaf.—RHS 140B (yellowish green).        -   Petiole texture.—Smooth, no pubescence.-   Flowers and seeds: Flowers and seeds have not been observed to date    during formal trials in Gainesville, Fla.-   Fruit/seed set: Fruit/seed not observed.-   Disease and insect resistance: Disease and insect resistance is    typical of the species, thus no claims are made of any superior    disease or insect resistance with this cultivar. The most common    insect pests observed on this plant in Gainesville, Fla., have been    long-tailed or citrus mealybugs (Pseudococcus spp.), which occur on    older stock plant material held in the greenhouse for over 3-4    months. Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (Bunyaviridae) has also been    observed in plants confined in greenhouses with mixed crops    (peppers) infected with Western flower thrips (Frankliniella    occidentalis). The most common pathogen of this species in the U.S.    is downy mildew (Perononspora lamii). This pathogen has been    observed in stock materials grown closely together in cooler growing    seasons.    Comparison with Known Cultivars

When the new cultivar ‘UF20-93-9’ is compared to the commercial cultivar‘UF12-22-1’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,269, commercial name “Campfire”),‘UF20-93-9’ has leaves colored reddish orange with a thin yellow greencoloration along the leaf margins, whereas ‘UF12-22-1’ has leavescolored entirely reddish brown with no yellow green coloration along theleaf margins.

What is claimed is:
 1. A new and distinct Coleus scutellarioides plant named ‘UF20-93-9’ as shown and described herein. 